Anxiety Related Emotional Symptoms

Anxiety and panic attacks are becoming more common among teenagers and adults. An anxiety attack caused by a stressful situation doesn't mean you have an anxiety disorder, but there are medical symptoms such as chest pain, shortness of breath, sweating, fatigue, chills, nausea, tremors and dizzy spells that indicate you should see your doctor. There are also emotional symptoms.

Identification

• Anxiety is the way your body responds to danger. It's normal to feel anxiety when in you're under pressure but many people having anxiety worry excessively for no apparent reason. Irrational fear, a sense of dread, constant tension and excessive excitement that begins to interfere with your life can be a sign of general anxiety disorder.

Effects

• If you're confused and can't concentrate, your anxiety can interfere with your work, school and family obligations. This can cause you to avoid everyday activities so you won't feel anxiety. You may feel like you're losing control of your life and fear that you're losing your mind. Sometimes your mind does go blank. You feel detached from yourself and wonder if you're real.

Significance

• You may begin to feel self conscious. You feel like everyone is looking at you and judging you. You may feel embarrassed and rejected and you become overly vigilant because you expect the worst. If you're afraid something bad will happen if things aren't done a certain way, you obsess over whether or not you locked the door, or can't control compulsions, you could have obsessive/compulsive disorder.

Considerations

• Anyone can feel angry, insecure or restless at times, but if you find yourself unable to control your anger and you're always feeling alone and isolated, you could have an anxiety disorder. When you're edgy, tense, and uneasy to the point that you feel like you have to get away, and this is happening more often than not, you should see your doctor.

Prevention/Solution

• You can reduce anxiety by talking to somebody you trust. Give up some of your responsibilities to reduce stress. See your doctor to make sure your symptoms aren't caused by medication, asthma, hypoglycemia, or thyroid problems. Visit a therapist experienced with anxiety disorders. Most anxiety disorders are treated with a combination of behavior therapy and medications such as Xanax or Valium. Exercise, meditation and hypnosis can also help.